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Saturday, May 28, 2011

﻿Mother Nature must have looked at her calendar and realized that the unofficial start to summer is this weekend! As a result, we have had amazing, summer like weather ever since this past Tuesday! We leave you with a couple of pictures from yesterday, a day spent entirely outdoors much like the three days before it as well. We'll be away from this space enjoying the long weekend together, but promise to return next week with lots of wonderful stories and pictures! Have a safe Memorial Day weekend, friends!

Friday, May 27, 2011

{This Moment} - A SouleMama Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see. We wish you a weekend full of love, laughter and time together!

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Being a born and raised New Englander, especially one who spent the majority of her life in Connecticut, it came as a total suprise to me to read on one of the homeschool Yahoo groups that we are on that a field trip was being planned to a bison farm in Connecticut! Really? We have bison in Connecticut?! I was in shock! Quickly I replied that we would love to join in the field trip fun and we anxiously awaited for today to arrive. The girls and I packed a picnic lunch, hopped in the car and headed to Brooklyn Connecticut to Creamery Brook Bison Farm for what promised to be a truly unique adventure!

The fun started with making ice cream. The girls loved it!

After ice cream it was time to board the wagon and head out to the fields (where the buffalo roam)!

Look! There really are bison in Connecticut!

We learned that baby bison (called calves) have a birth weight of 50 pounds!

When we got back to the farm, we all got to help make butter from the cream that was left over from making ice cream. The girls loved shaking the container. and even told David at dinner tonight how "butter is easier to make than ice cream, Daddy!" Even better though, is when we got to eat it!

﻿It was such a great trip! The weather was incredible, we learned lots of new things and met some really great people! And now we know, that yes, there are indeed bison in Connecticut!

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Today is my birthday, but it will always be remembered as the day that Emma cut her own hair. Yes, friends, that's right, Emma chose to celebrate my birthday by taking matters into her own hands today and chopping off about ten inches of hair from the left side of her head. The funny thing is, last night I took a lovely picture of her smiling her great, big beautiful smile. Little did I know it would be the last time we saw her with her long locks.

﻿And a little over twelve hours later, a new look:

She was very proud of herself!

"Mama, I cut my hair. In my room. Myself!"

This was going to need some special tending to. And it was one of the many times that I have wished that my parents did not live so far away. After briefly toying with the idea of putting the girls in the car and heading to Connecticut to have my mom give Em an adorable pixie cut to go with her personality, I realized that it would be better to stay put and find someone local to do it. The questions remained: Could I find someone like my mom to do this? And where would I find this person? So, I did what any modern mama would do. I turned to Facebook and within seconds had an answer. According to our friend Steve, The Village Mane in Southborough was the place to go! I called them up, booked an appointment and we headed in.

We arrived and the girls were thrilled! They had never been to a "beauty shop" (as they called it thanks to Max & Ruby) before and were so excited! They checked out the magazines and chatted with the ladies as we waited our turn. Finally, it was time. We followed Debbie back to her area, she got all set up and then got right to work giving Em a beautiful new look. The other stylists and customers were quite taken with the girls and chatted with them and reminisced as we waited for Em's haircut to be finished. They all smiled that smile that welcomed me to the "club". The smile that meant they had been through this too with their own littles back in the day. Em did great! She loved that there was a little TV (tuned to The View, of course) and she loved that there was a mirror to look in while her hair was being cut. She sat very still and would occasionly smile at her reflection. As soon as Debbie had finished cutting her hair, Em smiled a great, big smile. Clearly, she loved her new look!

"Emma, you have cute hair!" -Grace

﻿As you can see, Grace even got in on the action and had her bangs trimmed!

﻿What a day it was! Sunny, gorgeous (warm, finally!) and full of new adventures! We are happy to report that we have found a fabulous new place to get haircuts and are looking forward to many more visits there. Em has been proudly telling everyone every where we go how she cut her hair and went to the beauty shop afterward. She is in love with this adorable new hair cut, which indeed fits her personality to a T! When Dave arrived home this evening, they took me out to dinner at The Wayside Inn, where once again it was reported to everyone we met that she cut her hair. ﻿It was a delightful day. Full of sunshine, blue skies and time spent with my incredible family! I am one lucky mama!

Monday, May 23, 2011

A few weeks ago we changed the evening routine. After a good few weeks of endless trips up and down the stairs to calm down the party that seemed to be taking place in the girls room at bedtime each night, Dave and I decided that we needed to change things up. Instead of putting them to bed when we think the girls are ready we now put them to bed when we know they are ready. This one change lead to a few other things changing (like the TV staying off from the time we make dinner until after the girls go to bed) and brought with it a lovely new evening rhythm. Some nights we play games, some nights the Legos are brought out, some nights the dollhouse is played with, some nights everyone finds their own thing to do, and some nights (like what's pictured above) it's all about creating. The evening mural was one of those simple projects that turned into something so much more. They easily worked on it for over an hour and could have kept going except for the fact that there was some serious yawning and eye rubbing going on. The simple act of getting out some paper and crayons, of seeing what each person would contribute to this lovely mural was enough to quiet the sillies and let the girls become ready for sleep. Once they were done creating for the night it was up to bed for stories and snuggles. It truly is delightful how one simple change has lead to even more love, peace and joy in our little world!

About Me

I am married to an amazing man and have two wonderful daughters. Together the four of us are living an incredible life full of wonder, love and amazing experiences. Each day brings something new and exciting and it's always an adventure to see where it takes us. I adore being a stay at home mom and cannot imagine what my days would be like without my daughters and our many adventures together. I love living in New England and have been longing for small town life in a way that is absolutely indescribable.